Council Will Select 1st Ward Replacement Wednesday

The Town Council will appoint one of three nominees to fill former 1st Ward Councilman Alan Purcell’s term at a meeting Wednesday.

The Wayne Regular Municipal Committee has nominated Richard Jasterzbski, Deborah Ciambrone and Assunta Kelly to replace Purcell.

Purcell resigned his council seat in June. He said illness forced him to make the “difficult” decision. He has battled emphysema since 2004 and recently began using a portable oxygen tank.

Jasterzbski serves on the Open Space Committee. He was appointed to a three-year term in January.

Ciambrone previously served on the Passaic County Freeholder Board. She and the other two Republican incumbents failed to be re-elected to the board in November. Ciambrone touted her party's record of fiscal conservatism during her election campaign.

Purcell was re-elected to the council in 2011.

The appointed person will serve until Nov. 5. The county Republican and Democratic committees have until Sept. 11 to notify town clerk Paul Margiotta of whom they want to run in the General Election to serve the remainder of the term, which expires in December 2015.

The meeting will be broadcast live online and on cable channel 77.

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